Schumer endorses de Blasio amid pay-to-play accusations

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer endorsed Mayor Bill de Blasio Monday morning, giving the incumbent a boost days after a major donor testified about buying unlimited access to City Hall.

Schumer, the most powerful Democrat in Washington, brushed off questions at a Grand Central Terminal press conference about Jona Rechnitz's claims under oath last week. The real estate investor asserted at the trial of a fallen corrections union boss that he enjoyed an open line and favors from the de Blasio administration thanks to his donations and fundraising assistance to the mayor's campaign and now-defunct political nonprofits.

"The mayor has done an outstanding job, he's answered questions on those issues," said Schumer. "For me, the [low] crime, the jobs criteria, are the top two criteria. I'm proud to endorse him."

The state's senior senator reiterated the when pressed about any reservations he might have. "Again, to me, the two far-and-away most important criteria in endorsing the mayor are 'Is crime down?' 'Are jobs up?' You can answer those yes, resoundingly. I'm proud to endorse him."

But de Blasio's party affiliation was surely a major factor in Schumer's decision to endorse the Democrat over Republican Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis. The senior senator from New York supported Democratic ex-Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer over then-GOP Mayor Michael Bloomberg in 2005 despite strong job growth and declining crime during the incumbent's first term. (Schumer also supported fellow Democrat and former Comptroller Bill Thompson's bid to topple Bloomberg in 2009.)

When reporters kept asking about the mayor, the senior senator from New York protested "no more," and pivoted to commenting on the indictment revealed Monday morning of Paul Manafort, President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman.

De Blasio, for his part, maintained that Rechnitz—with whom he once posed for photos and exchanged friendly emails—is "a liar and a felon."

"He is someone who tells lies, and he's telling lies about me. And that's all there is to say about it," the mayor insisted.

But while insisting that Rechnitz's statements were not true, the mayor also said he could not remember his conversations with him, because he had so many like them when he was raising money in 2013 and 2014.

Rechnitz pleaded guilty earlier this year to bribing Norman Seabrook, former president of the Corrections Officers Benevolent Association, to invest in a friend's hedge fund.

Crain’s New York Business is the trusted voice of the New York business community—connecting businesses across the five boroughs by providing analysis and opinion on how to navigate New York’s complex business and political landscape.